Dead!

Information

Dead! opens with the heart monitor flat lining. From this point on the character ‘The Patient’ is dead.
The ‘La la la’ vocals and bouncy bass line were influenced by Gerard’s teenage love of Britpop acts such as Blur.

Meaning

This was another one of the older songs. It was written when we were on our last tour. It originally had a Beatles or Billy Joel feel to it. It was the one song that we always knew was going to be on the record. It’s about being dead and people not liking you – it was a commentary on the band and how some people felt about us. Once we recorded it, it helped us to understand where the record was going. There’s something about those ‘la, las’ at the end that’s so powerful.
It’s a defiant song. We wanted to say, ‘You man hate us but we’re still here, more daring and more defiant ever’. It was important that the record wasn’t about us getting famous – that’s why the metaphors are so strong and it’s partly why the record is about a character (The Patient). We also wanted there to be lots of colour so that people would acctually feel like they were in a hospital or on a battlefield.
That visual element has always seemed important to My Chemical Romance.
When we started the band, music was all about people’s girlfriends, there was no storytelling, settings or smells. I hope that people can see the confetti when they listen to ‘The Black Parade’, or that they can see the marching band when the piccolo and glockenspiel come in. I want them to be able to see a hospital when we sing about one.

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Lyrics

And if your heart stops beating
I’ll be here wondering
Did you get what you deserve?

The ending of your life
And if you get to heaven
I’ll be here waiting, babe
Did you get what you deserve?
The end
And if your life won’t wait
Then your heart can’t take this

Have you heard the news that you’re dead?
No one ever had much nice to say
I think they never liked you anyway
Oh take
Me from this hospital bed
Wouldn’t it be grand?
It ain’t exactly what you planned

And wouldn’t it be great if we were dead?
Dead

Tongue-tied and oh so squeamish
You never fell in love
Did you get what you deserve?
The ending of your life
And if you get to heaven
I’ll be here waiting babe
Did you get what you deserve?
The end
And if your life won’t wait
Then your heart can’t take this

Have you heard the news that you’re dead?
No one ever had much nice to say
I think they never liked you anyway
Oh take
Me from this hospital bed
Wouldn’t it be grand
To take a pistol by the hand?
And wouldn’t it be great if we were dead?

And in my honest observation
During this operation
Found a complication in your heart
So long
‘Cause now you’ve got
Maybe just two weeks to live
Is that the most the both of you can give?

La la la la la la
La la la la la la
La la la la la la la

Oh, motherfucker if life ain’t just a joke
Then why are we laughing?
Then why am I dead?
Dead